Tips for Catalina
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Here is a good place to start although some of the info may need to be updated. Catalina dive info
Good answers will need more information-
When are you going?
How many days are you here?
Do you want to stay on the island, or travel to the island?
Have you dove California waters before (Kelp, colder)?
Will you need rental gear?
There are ways to do a day trip or several days. You can take the Catalina Express daily from the mainland, dive for the day, then come back.
There are several good hotels, a couple really cater to divers like Seaport Village. They will even pick you up when you arrive, and have a small truck to take you to the dive site at Casino Point. Be prepared as room rates for all the hotels have gone up and are not cheap. Also note that the dive park can be very crowded on weekends April thru September.
Catalina Divers Supply has a shop[ at the Casino now for rentals, and also has a dive boat if you want to do boat dives while you are there. I do recommend this if you have several days. They also do airfills there, including nitrox, usually in the time it takes for a surface interval.
You can also take day boats from Long Beach or San Pedro. Most of the dive boats do Saturday and Sunday dives, with Sundiver Express going out most Fridays as well (They also have rental gear at the dock). Just be warned that those boats fill up fast between now and the end of September.
All that said, it is great diving. You'll enjoy it.
Good answers will need more information-
When are you going?
How many days are you here?
Do you want to stay on the island, or travel to the island?
Have you dove California waters before (Kelp, colder)?
Will you need rental gear?
There are ways to do a day trip or several days. You can take the Catalina Express daily from the mainland, dive for the day, then come back.
There are several good hotels, a couple really cater to divers like Seaport Village. They will even pick you up when you arrive, and have a small truck to take you to the dive site at Casino Point. Be prepared as room rates for all the hotels have gone up and are not cheap. Also note that the dive park can be very crowded on weekends April thru September.
Catalina Divers Supply has a shop[ at the Casino now for rentals, and also has a dive boat if you want to do boat dives while you are there. I do recommend this if you have several days. They also do airfills there, including nitrox, usually in the time it takes for a surface interval.
You can also take day boats from Long Beach or San Pedro. Most of the dive boats do Saturday and Sunday dives, with Sundiver Express going out most Fridays as well (They also have rental gear at the dock). Just be warned that those boats fill up fast between now and the end of September.
All that said, it is great diving. You'll enjoy it.
I’m not the op but I fit his entry post.
It will be myself, wife, and 3 kids. Kids are 20, 18, and 13. We were certified a year ago in San Salvador Bahamas. I have a few cold water quarry dives and 1 Lake Michigan dive. I have 25 dives total. Wife is at 20 dives but all warm water. Kids have 12 dives, all warm water. I am planning a trip or two to the quarry before Catalina for the whole family.
Staying on island during diving days
I have a few cold water dives in Michigan but family doesn’t. I am planning to get a quarry dive in for the family before we go.
Mixed bag on rental gear. The 2 middle kids need everything except masks. The youngest, and I only need tanks and weights. My wife needs fins, hood, and wetsuit.
I am thinking of getting my wife fully geared. She is close. I am not sure what to do with the middle kids. At minimum I would get them hoods so they can cut them to fit their masks and face.
I am wondering if we should get a guide for the first dive. It looks like they charge by diver and include full rental gear. I really want to pay a guide to take be a tour guide and have rental be a separate thing.
I am wondering if we should do a boat dive.
And any other tips you can think of.
It will be myself, wife, and 3 kids. Kids are 20, 18, and 13. We were certified a year ago in San Salvador Bahamas. I have a few cold water quarry dives and 1 Lake Michigan dive. I have 25 dives total. Wife is at 20 dives but all warm water. Kids have 12 dives, all warm water. I am planning a trip or two to the quarry before Catalina for the whole family.
July 6 - 10. Diving for 2-3 days
Staying on island during diving days
I have a few cold water dives in Michigan but family doesn’t. I am planning to get a quarry dive in for the family before we go.
Mixed bag on rental gear. The 2 middle kids need everything except masks. The youngest, and I only need tanks and weights. My wife needs fins, hood, and wetsuit.
I am thinking of getting my wife fully geared. She is close. I am not sure what to do with the middle kids. At minimum I would get them hoods so they can cut them to fit their masks and face.
I am wondering if we should get a guide for the first dive. It looks like they charge by diver and include full rental gear. I really want to pay a guide to take be a tour guide and have rental be a separate thing.
I am wondering if we should do a boat dive.
And any other tips you can think of.
covediver
Contributor
I just returned from a weekend dive trip to Catalna, one of more than a dozen trips to Avalon over the last 38 years. Diving in the underwater dive park at Casino Point is great, offering easy entry and easy access (watch for other divers entering and exiting). For you first dive, you might want to consider enterng the water around high tide, if possible, as this seems to make for the easiest entry and exit. Swim to one of the many bouys near the entrance and slowly descend on the line. Before entering the water, check out the map of the dive park near the stairway to the water; it cotains useful information on different locations in the park like depth, heading, and distance from a rock near the entry point. Several in our party enountered black sea bass, a real treat. They seem to c ome and go randomly. Catalina Divers Supply is right at the dive park and has a great operation. Check out the dive museum between dives, lots of unique old equpment. I did find that many of the tourist serving shops are charging up to a 3 percent service fee. if this is an issue for you bring cash. If you are on Facebook, checnk out the Casino Point Devers group. "Mark in the Park" does a daily show on conditions in the park. I like Catalina and Avalon, you won't be disaapointed.
If you're wondering if hiring a guide might be a good idea for you, it probably is. Some folks hate being led around and love the independence of California diving. I'm getting to be more like that over time. But the guides at the Casino Point dive park are great. They can really enhance your experience, especially if you're new to diving or just new to the area.
If you're not too attached to your own gear, it's much more convenient to rent everything on the island. Maybe bring your own mask and computer, but they'll have a range of wetsuits, hoods, gloves if you need them. But book everything well in advance during the summer and summer-adjacent months. If you do bring your own gear, you probably still want to rent tanks and weights at Casino Point, and use the Blue Line Baggage service to bring your gear from the ferry to the dive park (it's an easy walk if you're unencumbered. Plus they'll store your gear when you're done so you can wander the shops and restaurants.)
It's completely doable as a day trip, or a long weekend. During the high season, the hotels have a 2-night minimum, and they're not cheap. The Seaport Village Inn is especially diver-friendly. They'll cheerfully drive your gear to and from Casino Point, the hotel (no small thing given the hills), and the ferry at no extra charge, and they won't hassle you about hanging your wetsuit out to dry on the balcony. The dive park can easily occupy you for a couple days with a couple dives per day. Unfortunately, it's pretty much the only shore dive you can do from Avalon. There's diving at Two Harbors on the other end of the island, but getting there from Avalon is about as difficult as getting there from the mainland. I only know of one small dive boat that goes out of Avalon; most Catalina boat diving begins and ends in Long Beach or San Pedro on the mainland. There is snorkeling, but no diving allowed, at Lover's Cove near the ferry. But the dive park is generally your only option during the week. Even during the summer, most dive boats only go out on the weekends.
If you're not too attached to your own gear, it's much more convenient to rent everything on the island. Maybe bring your own mask and computer, but they'll have a range of wetsuits, hoods, gloves if you need them. But book everything well in advance during the summer and summer-adjacent months. If you do bring your own gear, you probably still want to rent tanks and weights at Casino Point, and use the Blue Line Baggage service to bring your gear from the ferry to the dive park (it's an easy walk if you're unencumbered. Plus they'll store your gear when you're done so you can wander the shops and restaurants.)
It's completely doable as a day trip, or a long weekend. During the high season, the hotels have a 2-night minimum, and they're not cheap. The Seaport Village Inn is especially diver-friendly. They'll cheerfully drive your gear to and from Casino Point, the hotel (no small thing given the hills), and the ferry at no extra charge, and they won't hassle you about hanging your wetsuit out to dry on the balcony. The dive park can easily occupy you for a couple days with a couple dives per day. Unfortunately, it's pretty much the only shore dive you can do from Avalon. There's diving at Two Harbors on the other end of the island, but getting there from Avalon is about as difficult as getting there from the mainland. I only know of one small dive boat that goes out of Avalon; most Catalina boat diving begins and ends in Long Beach or San Pedro on the mainland. There is snorkeling, but no diving allowed, at Lover's Cove near the ferry. But the dive park is generally your only option during the week. Even during the summer, most dive boats only go out on the weekends.
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